Dispensing-showcase



B. WOSINSKI.

DISPENSING SHOWCASE. APPLICATION man JAN.19. 1920.

Patented-May 31,1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET b MEL v INVENTOR a 1 Ben Wosinski 5| fw -w" tic] FACTURING COMPANY, OF GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN, A CORPORATION MICHIGAN.

' DISPENSING-SHOWCASE.

Specification of Letters Patent. i Patented Ma 31,"1921.'

Application filed January 19, 1920. Serial No. 352,441.v

To all whom it may concern: 7

Be it known'that I, BERT lVosINsKI, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Grand Rapids, in the county of Kent and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Dispensing-Showcases; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to showcases, being particularly concerned with improvements in dispensing showcases of the type shown in Reissue Patent No. 14,571, issued December 17, 1918 to Fred London.

In showcases of this character the case 7 comprises a seriesof steps, thevertical front side of each step comprising a door which may be raised or lowered by suitable operating mechanism so that access to the articles carried in the case may be had from in front. This is particularly desirable in the dispensing of cigars, though various other articles of merchandise may be held and displayed in the case and dispensed in the same manner quite as well. The invention in the present case consists in novel mechanism for individually raising and lowering the vertical frontdoors to the difierent steps of the case. By this mechanism the movement of said doors of the case is attained in a better and simpler'manner and by a construction which has many features of novelty and utility over that shown in the London reissue patent above noted.

For an understanding of the invention and the constructions embodying the same, reference may be had to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which;

Figure 1 is a vertical transverse section through a case equipped with my invention. Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional and plan View taken substantially on the brokenline 2-2 ofFig. 1. a

Fig.3 is a fragmentary front elevation taken substantially at the plane of line 3-3 of Fig. 1 and showing the operative connection of the front members or doors of the case to the operating mechanism therefor.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary enlarged longitudinal sectionillustrating the mount of said doors at their ends for guiding the same, H

F ig. 5 is a partial section andrear elevation taken substantially on the line 5-5 of Fig. 6. v v

'Fig.',6,is a fragmentary enlarged horizontal section taken through the rear side of the case adjacent one ofthe operating handles or knobs which are used to move said front doors of the case, and

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary enlarged vertical section illustratingthe method of attaching the operating cables to the wheels over which the'same run. l Like reference characters refer to like partsin the different views of the drawmgs. I j

The. case hasa bottom 1, a front vertical side 2 in the lower part thereof and a longer vertical back 3 which extends substantially the full 'height'of thecase. 'A

plurality of horizontal top members 4 of glass located in different horizontal planes are used as the tops of the various sections ofthe. case, the case being formed of a plurality of sections located one above the other in stepped relation, av plurality of doors 5 of glass movable up and down in vertical planes are usedto close thespaces between the different horizontal members 4: of the case. The case may be offanydesired length and divided into any dseired number of compartments or sections'in the length thereof, the doors 5 in thelength of any compartment at their ends lying back of a metal strip 6 fastened to an upright 7, as shown in Fig. 4, and lying in front of legs 8 of angle iron guides also fastened to upright -7, the strips 6 and the angles 8 serving as guidesfor the doors. In upper position the upper edges of the doors come against felt strips 9 secured on the under sides and near the forward edges of fithe tops dbf the different stepped sections of the case. i I

A rod 10 is attached to each of the doors 5 ata point midway between the ends. of the door. Each rod extends downwardly and passesthrough suitable guides 12 secured to suitable stationary parts 11 and 13 of the 7 and of the spaces in which the operating mechanisms for moving the front doors of the case are installed. The block 13 1s permanently secured to the front side 2 of the pulleys 16 and around a grooved operating wheel 17, three of which are loosely mounted on a suitable shaft between supporting brackets 18 attached to the bottom 1' of the case. Three of the wheels 17 are used, one for each of the front doors 5 in a section length of the case; and it is to be understood that inasmuch as the case may be of'any desired length with doors 5 only a part of the length of the case, so that several series of doors 5 are made in the length of the case, one of these operating units containing three wheels, cables, etc, is used for each of the series of doors which may be required. Each cable is secured to a wheel 17 by means of the securing bolt 19 and nut 20 as shown in Fig. 7.

A link 21 is connected at its lower end to each of the wheels 17 and at its upper end to a forwardly projecting lug 22 which is attached to a plate 23 slidably mounted between guides 2-l attached to the inner side of the back 3 of the case. From each of said plates 28 a rod 25 extends rearwardly through a suitable slot in the back of the case. On this rod an operating knob or handle 26 is mounted being adapted to turn freely about the longitudinal axis of the rod and being held against aimless movement by the pressure exerted by a coiled spring 27 which is disposed between the inner end of the knob 26 and the plate 23. A member 28 of metalis attached on the rear side of the back 3 of the case around each vertical V to free it from the notch, said wing 29 may be turned to the position indicated in dotted linesin Fig. 5 whereupon the slide 23 may be moved upwardly between the guides 24;, thisturning the attached wheel 17 and serving to lower the associated door 5. This is indicated by the position of the intermediate door 5 in Fig. 1. To counterbalance the weight of the door a band 31 is attached to the lower end of each of the slide plates 23 being extended downwardly and housed within a casing 32. This band is spring actuated and normally tends to wind up in a common and well known manner. The effect is to more or less balance the parts so that the operator who moves the door up and down has practically only to overcome the friction and inertia of the parts when operating the same.

This construction has been in practical use for some time and has proven thoroughly practical and eliicient. It is relatively simple, may be cheaply manufactured and assembled and is readily capable of necessary adjustment for the proper closing of the doors in the different steps of the case when they are in upper position. T have illustrated the case as adapted to contain cigars in boxes but any other suitable merchandise can be as readily displayed and dispensed without in any way changing tie invention.

I claim:

1. A showcase having a series of compartments arranged in stepped relation, the front wall of each compartment being slidable downward into the case to uncover the compartment, slidesmounted on the back of the case, one for each front wall, endless cables connected one to each of said front walls, wheels, one for each cable, around which said cables pass at their lower portions, and means operatively connecting the slides and said wheels whereby on movement of a slide, the associated front wall of a compartment is correspondingly moved to either 0 ien or close the compartment.

2. A showcase having a series of compartments arran ed in stepped relation, the front wall of each compartment being slidable downward into the case to uncover the compartment, a rod connected to and depending from each of said front walls, wheels mounted to turn about a horizontal axis adjacent the back of the case, endless cables passing around said wheels-and connected one to each of'said rods. slides vertically and movably mounted on the back of the case, and bars connecting the slides and wheels for opcr- .atmg sald wheels to thereby individually raise or lower the said front walls of the compartments.

3. A showcase having a series ofcompartments arranged in stepped relation the front wall of each compartment being slidable downward into the caseto uncover the com partment, a rod depending from each of said front walls slidably mounted on the case, a

plurality of wheels, oneffor'each of said front walls mounted to turn about a horizontal axis and located within and adjacent the rear side of the case, a plurality of pulleys connected to the case above the wheels: an endless cable passing around each of said wheels and pulleys and attached one to each of said rods between each wheel and associated pulley, a plurality of slides one for each wheel mounted on the rear side of the case, and a link connecting each slide with a wheel whereby on movement of the slide, an equal movement of the front wall of the case in an upward or downward direction occurs.

4L. A showcase having a. series of compartments arranged in stepped relation, the front wall of each compartment being slidable downward into the case to uncover the com-- partment, a rear wall to the case having a plurality of verticalvslots therein, a member slidably mounted within the case in front of each slot and adapted to be movedup and down within the case, operating means attached to each sliding member and extending through the adjacent slot to a point back of the case, a plurality of endless cables one for each front wall, means connecting each cable to a front wall of the case, and means for operating the cables to move said front walls up and down on operation of said associated sliding means.

5. A showcase having a series of compartments arranged in stepped relation, the front wall of each compartment being slidable into the case to uncover the compartment, a plurality of members mounted to turn about a horizontal axis, one for each front Wall, and located within the case, an endless cablepassing around and connected to each of said members, means for mounting each of said cables within the case so that a portion thereof moves vertically on movement of its associated member, means for connecting said vertical movable portion of each cable with a front wall, and means for individually turning each of said members back and forth about its axis of movement, said means being accessible from back of the case.

BERT wosifism. 

